NOVPUB63: Chapter 42 Suspect
63 -42 Suspect
The girl in pink was deathly pale, and upon seeing Lady Gao, she struggled and said, “Lady!
Judge Yu brought people to our manor and took away Eighteenth Lady, claiming that she is a murder suspect!”
“What?” Even with Lady Gao’s ability to feign calm, hearing that her daughter had become a suspect caused her to lose her composure, and she demanded harshly, “Explain clearly!
What happened?”
The maid was so frightened that her neck shrank back as she explained, “Judge Yu said that they found half a nail painted with cinnabar on Wan Lu’s wound, and coincidentally, Eighteenth Lady’s nail broke at Yin’s residence…
And there is testimony that on that day, Eighteenth Lady and Seventeenth Lady had an altercation in the garden of Yin’s residence, which led Judge Yu to identify the Wife as the suspect.”
Indeed, Ran Yan’s maids had no quarrels or grievances with anyone in the Yin residence; even if there were conflicts, it wouldn’t warrant murder.
However, Eighteenth Lady and Ran Yan never got along, so if she acted out of rage, the reasoning for committing murder might actually make sense.
Lady Gao’s suspicions gradually subsided in her heart, and her expression eased as she turned to Ran Yan and calmly asked, “Did you really have an altercation with your sister that day?”
Ran Yan replied truthfully, “Yes.”
There was no need for Ran Yan to elaborate, as Lady Gao would surely soon be well-informed about the specific circumstances, especially since a maid from the Yin residence was a witness at that time.
“Lady Yin, please forgive me,” Lady Gao said to Yin Miaomiao with an apologetic smile.
Yin Miaomiao offered her gentle words of comfort, “Lady, rest assured.
We all know what kind of person Eighteenth Lady is; she would not commit such an act.
I believe Inspector Liu and Judge Yu are both capable of fair judgment.”
“Thank you for your reassuring words, Third Lady,” Lady Gao replied, seemingly truly relieved, and after bidding farewell to Yin Miaomiao and Ran Yan, she left with a group of servants.
Yin Miaomiao also said her goodbyes to Ran Yan, instructing her before leaving, “If you plan to go to the Pingjiang River on the day of Qixi, please send someone to my manor in advance to let me know, so we can go together.”
“Alright,” Ran Yan promised, escorting her out of the villa.
On the way back, Ran Yan couldn’t help but wonder if Ran Meiyu really had the time and motive to kill Wan Lu.
After carefully considering the wounds on Wan Lu’s body, Ran Yan deduced that she must have first been struck from behind, and since the object used was not sharp and the assailant did not exert much force, Wan Lu might have only felt dizzy and temporarily lost the ability to resist.
For some unknown reason, the murderer abandoned the original weapon and attempted to strangle her with their hands, but accidentally broke their own nail in the process.
This sequence of events could have occurred before Ran Yan arrived at the garden.
If Ran Yan’s earlier deduction that there was more than one assailant was correct, then if it were indeed Ran Meiyu, she might have deliberately come out to delay Ran Yan after discovering her entering the back garden.
What about the motive for murder?
From what Ran Yan remembered, Ran Meiyu was not known for her kindness, but she had many ways to vent her frustration on Wan Lu—why choose murder?
“It’s not impossible for Eighteenth Lady to want to kill Wan Lu,” Mrs.
Xing said.
“Why?” Ran Yan inquired.
Discussing Ran Meiyu, Mrs.
Xing’s face showed disgust, “Eighteenth Lady is young but has a malicious mind.
How many times has she harmed you in the past?
Wan Lu was impulsive and had offended her many times; who knows what grudges she held in her heart!”
Ran Yan offered a faint smile; she remembered those incidents, although they didn’t happen to her, so she could not empathize.
Mrs.
Xing had suffered a lot and utterly detested Ran Meiyu, sincerely praying that this time Ran Meiyu would not be released.
“Maybe she just wanted to teach Wan Lu a lesson and went too far,” Mrs.
Xing muttered.
Ran Yan was taken aback—Mrs.
Xing’s suggestion was very possible.
Thinking that she had accidentally killed someone, Ran Meiyu became panicked and created an illogical suicide scene.
“Has Wan Lu woken up?” Ran Yan asked as everything could be easily resolved once Wan Lu regained consciousness.
“She woke up groggily for a moment last night, and her eyes were open for a while this morning, but she didn’t respond when the old servant called her,” Mrs.
Xing said with concern.
“Didn’t respond?” Ran Yan frowned; the brain, being the control center of the human body, was easily damaged.
If Wan Lu became slow-witted or suffered from amnesia…
With these thoughts, Ran Yan hastened toward Wan Lu’s room.
Seeing her worried expression, Mrs.
Xing didn’t ask any further questions and followed her in.
Wan Lu was awake, her eyes half-open, staring blankly as she allowed Madam Liu to feed her medicine.
She was able to swallow the medicine actively, although it was evident she was in pain while doing so.
Ran Yan knew it was inevitable that her throat was injured after being strangled and then hung up.
